Serbian leader calls for Kosovo compromise, issues warning

Aleksandar Vucic, the president of Serbia, center, prepares to speak during a session of Serbia’s parliament in Belgrade, Serbia Monday, May 27, 2019. Vucic addressed the Serb parlamentarians during a session devoted to the situation in Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in 2008. (AP Photo/Marko Drobnjakovic)

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BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) — Serbia’s president has warned of renewed clashes in Kosovo if a “compromise” solution for the country’s former province is not found soon.

President Aleksandar Vucic’s more than two-hour keynote speech in Serbia’s parliament did not include many details of his negotiation plans for Kosovo, which unilaterally declared independence in 2008 that Serbia still does not recognize.

Serbian nationalists say any compromise over Kosovo, considered the medieval cradle of Serbia’s statehood and religion, would represent treason.

Vucic says Serbs have to “choose between sweet lies and bitter truth,” apparently referring to their refusal to accept Kosovo’s reality, which includes recognition by the United States and most Western states.Vucic says “an agreement and compromise are not a defeat, but a victory.”

Serbia lost control over Kosovo after an intervention by NATO in 1999.

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